MINNEAPOLIS , Minnesota -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Drivers who were on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed told harrowing tales of survival .

`` The whole bridge from one side of the Mississippi to the other just completely gave way , fell all the way down , '' survivor Gary Babineau told CNN . `` I probably had a 30 - , 35-foot free fall . And there 's cars in the water , there 's cars on fire . The whole bridge is down . ''

He said his back was injured but he determined he could move around .

`` I realized there was a school bus right next to me , and me and a couple of other guys went over and started lifting the kids off the bridge . They were yelling , screaming , bleeding . I think there were some broken bones . '' Watch a driver describe his narrow escape ''

At home when he heard about the disaster , Dr. John Hink , an emergency room physician , jumped into his car and rushed to the scene in 15 minutes . He arrived at the south side of the bridge , stood on the riverbank and saw dozens of people lying dazed on an expansive deck .

They were in the middle of the Mississippi River , which was churning fast , and he had no way of getting to them . He went to the north side , where there was easier access to people . Ambulances were also having a hard time driving down to the river to get closer to the scene .

Working feverishly , volunteers , EMTs and other officials managed to get 55 people into ambulances in less than two hours . Occasionally , a pickup truck with a medic inside would drive to get an injured person and bring him back up even ground , Hink told CNN .

The rescue effort was controlled and organized , he said ; the opposite of the lightning-quick collapse .

`` I could see the whole bridge as it was going down , as it was falling , '' Babineau said . `` It just gave a rumble real quick , and it all just gave way , and it just fell completely , all the way to the ground . And there was dust everywhere and it was just like everyone has been saying : It was just like out of the movies . ''

Babineau said the rear of his pickup truck was dangling over the edge of a broken-off section of the bridge . He said several vehicles slid past him into the water .

`` I stayed in my car for one or two seconds . I saw a couple cars fall , '' he said .

`` So I stayed in my car until the cars quit falling for a second , then I got out real quick , ran in front of my truck -- because behind my truck was just a hole -- and I helped a woman off of the bridge with me .

`` I just wanted off the bridge , and then I ran over to the school bus . I started grabbing kids and handing them down . It was just complete chaos . ''

He said most of the children were crying or screaming . He and other rescuers set them on the ground and told them to run to the river bank , but a few needed to be carried because of their injuries . See rescuers clamber over rubble ''

Babineau said he had no rescue training . `` I just knew what I had to do at the moment . ''

Melissa Hughes , 32 , of Minneapolis , told The Associated Press that she was driving home when the western edge of the bridge collapsed under her .

`` You know that free-fall feeling ? I felt that twice , '' Hughes said .

A pickup landed on top of her car , but she was not hurt .

`` I had no idea there was a vehicle on my car , '' she told AP . `` It 's really very surreal . ''

Babineau told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune : `` On the way down , I thought I was dead . I literally thought I was dead .

`` My truck was completely face down , pointed toward the ground , and my truck got ripped in half . It was folded in half , and I ca n't believe I 'm alive . '' See and hear eyewitness accounts ''

Bernie Toivonen told CNN 's `` American Morning '' that his vehicle was on a part of the bridge that ended up tilted at a 45-degree angle .

`` I knew the deck was going down , there was no question about it , and I thought I was going to die , '' he said . After the bridge settled and his car remained upright , `` I just put in park , turned the key off and said , ` Oh , I 'm alive , ' '' he said . E-mail to a friend

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NEW : `` I thought I was going to die , '' driver says

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Man says pickup truck was folded in half ; he just has cut on face

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Driver : `` I probably had a 30 - , 35-foot free fall ''

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Minnesota bridge collapsed during rush hour Wednesday